**Spoiler ** Todays Result Shocker

I say shocker because I am still amazed at this year's Open. If I were a betting man, I would most certainly be a very financially broke betting man. None of the matches went the way I would have predicted throughout this Tournament.

I suppose you can look at it as being very exciting for name or unfamiliar names in Tennis but I would not have believed some of these matches.

Had you told me a 5.5 ' 70th Ranked player who had never played at the US Open before would take out the huge names that she sis, I would have laughed in your face but I am now a Believer. Yes Melanie, yu have made me a Believer as well and I bow to your success.

Here's what happened today >

Coach

how could you not love this game I want to know?

.

The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

she sure has impressed me as well. however i'm still a non-believer.. is it possible? Coach, you consider Oudin a 5.5?

5'.5" meaning her size. I believe I heard she was 5 ft 5 inches tall which is a midget in today's game. Most of the guys are over 6ft and many of the women today are over 6 ft as well. There are certain advantages in being tall but clearly there are a number of disadvantages if your mobility is suspect. Such as my girlfriend Maria Sharapova. She can hit as hard as anyone on the Tour but when she hits outwide if it's not an out-right winner, she's in trouble against players who have no problem changing the direction of the ball.

The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

5'.5" meaning her size. I believe I heard she was 5 ft 5 inches tall which is a midget in today's game. Most of the guys are over 6ft and many of the women today are over 6 ft as well. There are certain advantages in being tall but clearly there are a number of disadvantages if your mobility is suspect. Such as my girlfriend Maria Sharapova. She can hit as hard as anyone on the Tour but when she hits outwide if it's not an out-right winner, she's in trouble against players who have no problem changing the direction of the ball.

oh, ok. i thought that's what you might have meant. she's actually 5'6", but still very short for a tennis player.

oh, ok. i thought that's what you might have meant. she's actually 5'6", but still very short for a tennis player.

Although I am happy that she had such a great experience during this USO, I dare to say, you will probably not be able to see this anytime soon from her.

I've seen this a hundred time before, when a new player comes on the scene, it takes a while before the others begin to see and feel what their game is all about. Pretty much like Andy Roddick. His serve was his Bread & Butter when he came on the scene. Now, is serve doesn't win tournaments anymore so he had to learn to fight off the ground.

Unfortunately Andy's game is not geared as a Champion like Sampras, Agassi, Federer, Nadal, etc. Andy must work harder to get respect than the old days when guys were afraid to face his serve. Don't be surprised if Mr. Roddick remains a One Slam Wonder for a long time. His game is at its' best during Wimbledon and I believe he had he best chance this year. He tried so hard and still came up short. I was actually surprised at how long it took Roger to finally win. If yo watch the match again, you'll notice that the length of the match had more to do with Federer making unforced errors than Roddick's winners.

So with Melanie Oudin, it will be interesting to see how she does next year. I'll bet she'll not beat Maria again anytime soon. Maria allowed her ego to get in the way of her game whereas Caroline decided to play a smart game of tennis. Instead of going out and trying to blast her off the court like the others did, she was content with keeping the ball in play. Melanie basically told us that all she did was hang around long enough to let the others beat themselves. READ MY SIGNATURE ... I can't tell you how often it truly applies to this game. Even in the Pros

Coach

The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

Although I am happy that she had such a great experience during this USO, I dare to say, you will probably not be able to see this anytime soon from her.

I've seen this a hundred time before, when a new player comes on the scene, it takes a while before the others begin to see and feel what their game is all about. Pretty much like Andy Roddick. His serve was his Bread & Butter when he came on the scene. Now, is serve doesn't win tournaments anymore so he had to learn to fight off the ground.

Unfortunately Andy's game is not geared as a Champion like Sampras, Agassi, Federer, Nadal, etc. Andy must work harder to get respect than the old days when guys were afraid to face his serve. Don't be surprised if Mr. Roddick remains a One Slam Wonder for a long time. His game is at its' best during Wimbledon and I believe he had he best chance this year. He tried so hard and still came up short. I was actually surprised at how long it took Roger to finally win. If yo watch the match again, you'll notice that the length of the match had more to do with Federer making unforced errors than Roddick's winners.

So with Melanie Oudin, it will be interesting to see how she does next year. I'll bet she'll not beat Maria again anytime soon. Maria allowed her ego to get in the way of her game whereas Caroline decided to play a smart game of tennis. Instead of going out and trying to blast her off the court like the others did, she was content with keeping the ball in play. Melanie basically told us that all she did was hang around long enough to let the others beat themselves. READ MY SIGNATURE ... I can't tell you how often it truly applies to this game. Even in the Pros

Coach

I am going to agree with the Roddick analysis, but not with Oudin's. She has been on the tour for only a little over a year and she is already in the top 30 after her performance. She has the desire to win and I see something in her eyes that most of those other players don't have. And don't forget, over the course of a 3 set women's match you will see between 12 and 35 winners. Compare that to the number of points played and you realize that hitting winners is really not what tennis is about. The person that makes less errors really wins the matches. Sanchez-Vicario stayed at the top of the women's game for years without one single weapon other than her consistency and her speed. Oudin has all of that with a bit more power than Vicario. Justine Henin was 5'6" tall as was Hingis. There is really no reason for Oudin to not do well. She beat jankovic at Wimbledon as well and won the qualifier at the Australian this year. Besides, she has that attitude that Graf had. It's all about tennis and not Gucci, Versace, and Prada. Hopefully she is going to surprise us. Besides, Federer was taking time to go out and watch her matches. He seems to think there is something there too.

i suppose we will find out. i agree with TK that Oudin has something special in her eyes. i just don't know exactly what it is. she almost seems to emotional. but i love to watch her play.. so much heart. btw, imo Roddick will stay number 6 or better for some time.

i suppose we will find out. i agree with TK that Oudin has something special in her eyes. i just don't know exactly what it is. she almost seems to emotional. but i love to watch her play.. so much heart. btw, imo Roddick will stay number 6 or better for some time.

If there were one thing that I think Oudin needs to do it is to play lots of claycourt tournaments so that she can get used to long rallies and also it will be easy on her body. As much as she runs and moves, she will hurt herself playing like that on hardcourts year round. Also needs to develop her ability to come in and knock of volleys. That helped Henin out. She really has the fight to be a great. There is something there. She should grow out of that emotional immaturity as she is only 17 and I think she is intelligent enough to realize that she needs to work on that. She will develop and become more comfortable the more she plays. If she develops her net game, watch out. Who comes to the net in the women's game other than to throw in a bluff and try to put a little scare into their opponent? Last female I saw rush the net was Henin and that wasn't a regular occurance. I feel like the next female that really develops her net game will really see some success. Just my opinion, but a very feasible one.

I was shocked when I heard Caroline defeated Kuznetsova.
I certainly hadn't expected her to win..
But I'm happy she did

Why am I fighting to live, if I'm just living to fight
Why am I trying to see, when there aint nothing in sight
Why am I trying to give, when no one gives me a try
Why am I dying to live, if I'm just living to die?
-Tupac Shakur

Ok I'll lay off Melanie until we see her compete once again. Just leaving the emotions out of the mix and looking at her whole game. She will most likely have a good career but I would be extremely surprise to see her in the top ten any time soon. Her weapons as I see them are her ability to track balls down in the manner that Martina Hingis did. She seems to have an instinct of knowing where the ball is going to go. And her other weapon from vantage point is her consistency. She's a backboard, which is frustrating for many players not only Pro level. When you play against a person who gets back everything you throw at them, one has a tendency to go for bigger & bigger shots much like Sharapova & Petrova did, which often causes errors.

I know all too well what's it's like to play against a person who pushes the ball and gives you no pace to work with. I like hard hitters. There's nothing nicer than a high velocity top spin or flat shot coming at you that you can deal with because you've built your game around these types of ground strokes. Problem is, when you play against a person that doesn't give you the pace you're accustomed to, it messes up your timing.

Years ago, although I touted that I was open to play with anyone because I understood what it was like for beginning players not being able to get a game if their skill level was lacking. But I had the hardest time playing with people that basically had no game. I found for a long time that it brought my level down instead of bringing their level up. I never understood that until one day it clicked. I wanted so badly for the person to have fun, that I felt if I hit the ball the way I normally did, they wouldn't enjoy themselves so I tried to hit at their level which was now difficult for me.

btw - Roger Federer lost today. He had his chances in the 3rd but it appeared he lost his concentration and Del Portro raised his game. Another problem Roger had was not being able to get his 1st serves in. I think his first serve percentage was around 41% and in the finals of a major, that ain't gonna cut it against someone of Juan's ability.

I don't feel bad for Roger given he was only going for 6 straight US Open titles and Juan was going for his first major title. I wouldn't say the guards are changing but when you win a major, it certainly builds your confidence and if the guys thought Juan was hard to deal with before, they're in for big surprise.

The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

btw - Roger Federer lost today. He had his chances in the 3rd but it appeared he lost his concentration and Del Portro raised his game. Another problem Roger had was not being able to get his 1st serves in. I think his first serve percentage was around 41% and in the finals of a major, that ain't gonna cut it against someone of Juan's ability.

I don't feel bad for Roger given he was only going for 6 straight US Open titles and Juan was going for his first major title. I wouldn't say the guards are changing but when you win a major, it certainly builds your confidence and if the guys thought Juan was hard to deal with before, they're in for big surprise.